Quick-look map of where clouds are, per camera (MISR)
What it measures. A quick first-pass map labeling each spot as clear or cloudy, produced separately for each of MISR's nine cameras, plus flags for glare and dust.
How it's made. Generated early from the MISR instrument on NASA's Terra satellite as a preliminary 'first look,' before the final, calibrated cloud mask is produced.
How & where you'd use it. A provisional product mainly useful for fast turnaround; for careful work, the later finalized cloud mask is recommended.
What's measured
Coverage & cadence
- Time span1999-12-18 → ongoing
- Measured byTerra (MISR)
- Processing levelLevel 1B
- Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
- FormatsnetCDF-4
- StatusACTIVE
What you can do with it
- Map air pollutants — NO₂, aerosols, ozone
- Track greenhouse gases and Earth's energy budget
- Feed weather and air-quality analysis
Official description
This is the FIRSTLOOK Radiometric Camera-by-camera Cloud Mask (RCCM) product. It contains initial estimated classifications of pixels/regions as clear or cloudy. It also has masks for the presence of glitter or dust. The FIRSTLOOK RCCM product is superceded by the final RCCM product following seasonal calibration.
Get the data
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc") # free Earthdata Login
results = earthaccess.search_data(
short_name="MIRCCMF",
version="002",
bounding_box=(-122.5, 37.2, -121.8, 37.9), # your area (W,S,E,N)
temporal=("2024-01-01", "2024-12-31"), # your dates
)
files = earthaccess.open(results) # stream straight from LARC_CLOUDBrowsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.